1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display device including the backlight unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
The importance of a display device has increased with the development of multimedia. Accordingly, various types of display device, such as a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) and an organic light-emitting display (“OLED”), have been used.
Among the various types of display device, an LCD device is one of the most widely used types of flat panel display device. The LCD device typically includes two substrates having electric field generating electrodes such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. Such a liquid crystal display device is configured such that a voltage is applied to the electric field generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the liquid crystal layer, so that the alignment of liquid crystal molecules is determined and the polarization of incident light is controlled, thereby displaying an image.
A liquid crystal display device typically includes a display panel for displaying an image and a backlight unit for providing light to the display panel. The backlight unit may be classified into an edge type backlight unit and a direct type backlight unit according to the position of a light source. The edge type backlight unit may be configured such that a light source is disposed on a side surface of a light guide plate that guides light from the light source to the display panel.